Chapter 1190 Harpy
Aiwass's hunch was correct.
Only the next afternoon... that is, the afternoon of June 23rd, he received the news from the debt collector.
"Heaven City has been burned down? Is that true?"
Aiwass exclaimed softly.
Sitting in front of him was a half-dressed harpy woman.
She wore only a loincloth similar to that of a sumo wrestler, with no other fabric on her body. However, her face, shoulders, and chest were painted with red and black paint, making her look like a priestess of an Indian tribe.
"Of course it is true, Lord Aiwass. My sisters and children have firsthand information. I flew to you as soon as I learned of it—I knew you would be concerned about it."
The female harpy smiled softly and humbly, but within that smile was a hint of unbridled wildness. "I still have a lot of top-secret, exclusive intelligence about the Rebellion. If you want it, I can give it all to you... If you pay a little extra, I can also prevent others from obtaining relevant information for a few days. Or... a few weeks, a few months? It's your call, my lord."
The look she gave Aiwass was so fiery that it even gave Aiwass a headache.
For the first time, Aiwass clearly realized what a "very low" and "naked" gaze meant...
——She was clearly lusting after her own body. Her gaze was almost like a tongue licking Aiwass's face.
Although he knew what the harpy was like, it was his first time to come into contact with one in person.
Modern harpies, strictly speaking, are not the ancient winged beings who could levitate through sheer force. Their features are not as handsome and beautiful as those of the winged beings, but rather much thinner. They lack the decorative ear feathers, waist feathers, and ankle feathers, and their wings do not flare from their waists or backs, but rather from their arms, resembling the long sleeves of a dancer. Their feet, instead of the five digits of the winged beings, are strong eagle claws.
The harpy is also called the harpy - of course, there are men among the harpy tribe, but it is a typical female-dominated society.
The biggest reason lies in the harpy people's special way of reproduction.
Regardless of the male's race, whether it was harpy, lizardman, human, troll, or elf... the offspring he gave birth to would eventually be harpy; and if a male harpy gave birth to offspring with someone from a different race, he would not be able to give birth to harpy children, and therefore could not expand the species, and could only exist as warriors, mages, pharmacists, or educators.
Because female harpy give birth in a unique way, they first allow their offspring to develop internally for a period of time, then lay an egg, which continues to develop externally, hatching, and then breastfeeding. Therefore, harpy childbirth is painless and does not interfere with movement or work. Any species born in this way will become harpy, just like a successful seedling grown in a soilless culture and then transplanted to soil... Naturally, male harpy cannot lay eggs.
The harpy's unique body structure makes them unsuitable for manual labor, and they are not adept at standing or sitting for long periods. Furthermore, the harpy's child mortality rate is high, and not all can fly... Those who are naturally weak, obese, or lack a sense of balance are easily ostracized by the tribe, and may even be thrown off cliffs during "mandatory flight training."
This also led to the fact that although the harpy people worshipped fertility so much, their population was only ranked around third in the Parthian region.
Aside from those who deliver letters and couriers, and serve as scouts for the armies of good masters or slave knights, the main job of most harpy men is plundering - their ability to fly freely through sandstorms is perfect for jobs like theft, robbery, or kidnapping.
Because the harpy people have a naturally low fertilization rate, more than 90% of the eggs in a harpy family will be infertile.
Because of this unique reproductive model, the harpy's sense of shame is different from other races - since it is low, they win by quantity. In addition to goods, they also kidnap foreigners to bear children for them.
Except for knowledgeable scholars and doctors who would stay, the others would be killed and eaten after mating, hence the name "Harpy".
As for those legal harpies living in Oasis City, who were free citizens and unable to engage in plundering, they would simply grab random people on the street to mate with, or simply open a brothel and then have sex with the customers.
Although the harpies weren't as good-looking as their ancient ancestors, that was only compared to the winged ones and elves. Compared to the average human standard, they were still much better looking, and their figures were much better.
Based on this reproductive model, although you may not know who the father of the child is, at least the mother of the child is definitely you, because you laid the egg after all.
The more fertilized eggs a harpy lays, the higher their chances of winning encounters, their success rate in robberies, or their own charm and fertility. The more "children" they have in the tribe, the greater their influence and power, and therefore the stronger their status within the population.
With each fertilized egg, the harpy paints an additional rune in red paint on a visible area of the egg's body. Black marks the child's death, covering the red with black—because the harpy believes a child's strength and health are linked to the parents' abilities. Therefore, the harpy also plunders the bloodlines of the powerful to produce stronger offspring, using more offspring to expand their territory.
This is like a medal worn by humans. These runes, as indelible as tattoos, truly bring them special powers... They are the runic marks of the Path of Love.
Harpies are a race with two primary paths: Love and Authority. Only a few exceptionally frail harpies may strangely mutate to develop the path of Wisdom. This means that, like dragons, moonchildren, and werewolves, they can gain the power of the path without mastering a profession—for they are inherently Daoist beings.
To showcase their runes, harpies will even boldly remove their clothing. For them, clothing is a sign of incompetence. Because they lack many "runes," they wear clothing to conceal them. However, to the aesthetics of other races, the addition of so many ferocious, wild markings to their otherwise smooth, wheat-colored skin can seem somewhat terrifying.
For example, this female harpy in front of me...
She had long, curly red hair and tan skin. She wasn't ugly, with regular features, thick eyebrows, a high nose, and large eyes. She could even be considered cheerful and beautiful, with the air of a bold mercenary captain—if she appeared before Aiwass in normal clothes.
But she was topless at the moment, with over thirty runes painted on her skin, four of which were black. This meant that her children could probably form two soccer teams, and only four had died so far.
This also means that she has about the fifth level of power and can really summon storms and thunder.
In most harpy tribes, this can be considered an existence at the level of "Great Chief", and it is even possible to command more than 20 tribes at the same time, and the influence can radiate to more than ten oasis cities.
Aiwass didn't know her name. But the Desert Voice, a mail and media organization, was clearly under her control. There might be a chieftain of her rank, or maybe not... but she was probably at least the second-in-command of the organization, which was why Aiwass had to meet with her personally.
It wasn't her who had previously contacted Aiwass. The harpy had only about eight runes, meaning she was probably a third-level transcendent. Apparently, she was the one who reported this to the higher-ups, which is why the boss came directly this time.
Aiwass coughed softly and asked gently, "How much money do you want? Or do you want water?"
Putting aside other things...at least as far as the compensation is concerned, Aiwass is still quite confident.
Whatever she wanted, Aiwass could give it to her.
"I have no shortage of money or water. I am the chief of my tribe and the best warrior. I can catch the best lamb and pull it into the air. I can fly faster than an eagle and catch a falcon in mid-air. I can also see the fish in the river from the sky and swoop down to catch it."
She smiled, revealing her sharp teeth. "I want a child from you. I don't want anything else."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
